Betting

The Astros had said Peña would be ready for Opening Day, and he looked ready after homering in his first game back from a fractured ring finger, but it will be Carlos Correa at shortstop on Opening Day with Isaac Paredes at third base. In fact, Peña isn’t even with the team. He is taking live at-bats in Sugar Land on Thursday. It’s unclear what that means for his availability over the next few days, but it would be a shock if he wasn’t in the lineup soon, considering the team decided not to put him on the IL. The Astros’ lineup for Opening Day is: Jose Altuve 2B, Yordan Alvarez DH, Isaac Paredes 3B, Carlos Correa SS, Joey Loperfido LF, Cam Smith RF, Christian Walker 1B, Yainer Diaz C, and Jake Meyers CF.

The Red Sox have said they would get Mayer more at-bats against lefties this season, but that won’t be the case on Opening Day against Andrew Abbott. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start in Mayer’s place, and fantasy managers will have to hope that this is not a locked-in situation for Mayer all season long.

It’s only one game, but it seems that Hamilton may have beaten out Luis Rengifo for the third base job in Milwaukee. Hamilton did enjoy a good spring, slashing .333/.393/.510 with one home run and seven steals in 56 plate appearances, but he’s also a .222/.283/.359 career hitter in 550 MLB plate appearances. What’s more, he graded out as an above-average defender at second base during his time with the Red Sox but a below-average one at shortstop. It remains to be seen how he can handle third base and how long he lasts as a starter, but his speed puts him on fantasy radars if he’s going to start against right-handed pitching.

With Jackson Chourio (hand) on the IL, it will be Bauers who gets the first start of the season. The 30-year-old had a tremendous spring, hitting .462/.571/1.154 with seven home runs and three steals in 49 plate appearances. It’s obviously a small sample size, but it’s pretty eye-opening. Bauers figures to start against most right-handed pitchers for the next month, with Blake Perkins starting against lefties. That could give Bauers fantasy value in deeper formats. The rest of the Brewers’ lineup is: Brice Turang 2B, William Contreras C, Christian Yelich DH, Andrew Vaughn 1B, Jake Bauers LF, Sal Frelick RF, David Hamilton 3B, Garrett Mitchell CF, Joey Ortiz SS.

Even against a right-handed pitcher, Ward will man the top spot in the lineup. That figures to be a valuable place in the order, given the caliber of hitters behind him. Ward was likely going too late in drafts and could be in for a big season in Baltimore. The rest of the Orioles’ lineup is: Taylor Ward LF, Gunnar Henderson SS, Pete Alonso 1B, Adley Rutschman C, Samuel Basallo DH, Tyler O’Neill RF, Colton Cowser CF, Coby Mayo 3B, and Blaze Alexander 2B.

It’s not a complete surprise, but it is confirmation that Andujar, not Castellanos, will begin the season as the primary designated hitter. Andujar hit just .220/.305/.420 in spring, but he did have three home runs and a manageable strikeout rate. He’s a career .282 hitter in 467 MLB games and could have some deep league fantasy value if he’s going to hit in the middle of the Padres’ lineup. The rest of the Opening Day lineup is: Fernando Tatis RF, Xander Bogaerts SS, Manny Machado 3B, Jackson Merrill CF, Miguel Andujar DH, Gavin Sheets 1B, Ramon Laureano LF, Freddy Fermin C, and Jake Cronenworth 2B.

Even with a left-handed pitcher going, it seems that Wallner is going to be in the starting lineup. A big reason for that is that the Twins only have one right-handed hitter on the bench, Austin Martin, and he’s starting in place of Trevor Larnach. Every other bench hitter bats left-handed, which means the Twins may not be able to platoon Wallner as much as they used to. That seems like great news for fantasy managers, but Wallner is also a career .181/.273/.368 hitter off of lefties with a 31 percent strikeout rate. However, last season was his best season ever against southpaws, so maybe he will carry that over.

Wetherholt will make his MLB debut on Thursday and get things going for the Cardinals right away from the top of the lineup. The 23-year-old hit 306/.421/.510 with 17 homers and 23 steals in 109 games in the upper minors last season. He did hit only .212/.386/.394 in spring training, so expect a little bit of an adjustment period, but his understanding of the strike zone looked MLB-ready, so he will likely figure things out as long as St. Louis keeps him in the lineup. The rest of the Cardinals’ lineup is: JJ Wetherholt 2B, Ivan Herrera DH, Alec Burleson 1B, Masyn Winn SS, Nolan Gorman 3B, Jordan Walker RF, Nathan Church LF, Pedro Pages C, and Victor Scott CF.

Despite the Nationals throwing a right-handed pitcher, it will be Shaw in right field and not Michael Conforto. Shaw has struggled with his outfield defense this spring, so he may not have a long leash in the outfield, but his offensive production improved drastically in the second half of last season and carries over into spring training. Playing time in Chicago remains a mystery when Seiya Suzuki (knee) is healthy, but Shaw is worth adding in case his super utility role leads to three to four starts per week. The rest of the Cubs’ lineup is Michal Busch 1B, Alex Bregman 3B, Ian Happ LF, Pete Crow-Armstrong CF, Nico Hoerner 2B, Carson Kelly C, Moises Ballesteros DH, Dansby Swanson SS, and Matt Shaw RF.

Well, that’s a brutal blow on Opening Day. Chourio apparently suffered the injury in the World Baseball Classic, but the X-rays didn’t show a clear fracture. However, he aggravated the injury on a check swing this week, and that’s when further imaging revealed a hairline fracture. The Brewers claim he will be out anywhere between two and four weeks, but considering how important he is to the team and that the season is just starting, we would expect him to be out closer to a month. Blake Perkins was called up to take his spot on the roster, but Jake Bauers, who is fresh off a tremendous spring, could get the first look in the starting lineup.